Illinois Valley Times

Veteran state Sen. Sue Rezin (R-Morris) argues House Speaker Mike Madigan can run but won’t be able to hide for long from the flurry of questions he faces related to an ongoing federal corruption probe.

"At some point, he’s going to have to give an accounting,” Rezin told the Illinois Valley Times. “I mean there’s a federal investigation still going on and with that you don’t get to tell prosecutors you’re just not going to show up.”

With a bipartisan Special House committee now convened to look into some of the speaker’s more questionable behavior related to the ongoing ComEd federal corruption probe, Madigan recently let it be known he has no intention of answering questions about his suspected involvement before the bipartisan panel. The state’s longest-tenured lawmaker made his feelings clear in a three-page letter he sent to committee members in which he also forcefully defended his widely known practice of patronage hiring as not “ethically improper.”

“I don’t know how he can think he can continue as speaker of the House without addressing any of this scandal,” Rezin added. “People want answers, and they’re entitled to them when it comes to the role he played in getting this energy bill passed into law.”

As for Madigan’s position on patronage hiring, Rezin again takes exception with the views expressed by the longtime lawmaker.

“It’s wrong in every way imaginable, especially when you have individuals and a party that are directly benefitting from the practice by having candidates be beholden to them,” she said. "Everything about it is bad for good government and it completely erodes public trust in the process.”